Torn between Durham and Nottingham for Pharmacy.

If you did it to AS you will be fine, there's a little bit of maths involved that is a bit tricky but you'll be ok. I'm not really either, if you're in halls they'll put on loads of stuff so if you want to there's a lot of opportunity to go out

I'm in Sherwood, which is quite nice but definitely not the nicest hall on campus! I've found that most of the halls (aside from maybe Ancaster and Cavendish) are really nice and even the halls that are 'bad' aren't really awful!

Personally I'd go for Nottingham. Its already accredited, you won't be in the guinea pig year, they know what they're doing, have a great reputation and will have much better links to employers/work experience.

ah right, I did maths to AS level so hopefully it won't be too challenging.

I'm not too big on night life so anything is good for me :P

Which hall do you stay in?

On my interview they showed me Lenton, which I'm in love with at the moment. I've seen Ancaster before and I'm not too keen on it.

All in all it sounds great, I can't wait! Thank you

Lol they showed you lenton ? I live in Nottingham and have for my whole life, applied for pharmacy there too but was reluctant to do so.. Don't really wanna stay in the same place forever, I've got an interview there too Lol just my luck.. And btw what were you offered in terms of grades? I thought it was always AAB there


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They probably showed us Lenton, because it's one of the nicer halls I guess, so to convince us.
I live in Nottinghamshire, not too far from Nottingham, but I really want to go to Malaysia in the second year, which isn't quite as close
You can choose to go to your other choices if you really don't want to go to Nottingham
It is, but I have an A level in a native language which I didn't think they would accept, but they have so I only need AB.
Where else have you applied?

Oh that's great for the AB offer! Hope you get in (: yeah I'd love to go to Malaysia I read about that too. And erm, kings/ucl/Manchester/demontford


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Is the first year a hard transition from A levels? Also what's the night life like at Nottingham? Do you stay in the catered halls or self catering?
Sorry for the many questions :P

Hey, I am a first year history student at UoN. On my course first year is deliberately challenging but you are unlikely to find yourself way out of your depth and even if you do there is plenty of support available. I live in Ancaster which is a catered hall. Catered halls have a really good vibe to them and because you eat with the same people at least twice a day it's a really easy way to make friends and get to know people quickly. Catered halls are also right on campus meaning you are closer to your lectures than those in self catered as Broadgate park is a short walk away from campus.
As for nightlife it is amazing, nottingham has won several awards for it and rightly so. There are plenty of clubs and bars which cater to almost every music taste and most of them are Huge!


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as a 4th year pharmacy student at UoN, there's a few things you need to know
-Nottingham's course is heavily industry based, and tend to be more academic than majority of pharmacy courses out there.
-there will be alot of initiative required on your behalf regarding finding work experience, as you'll get virtually non through the university even if the QMC is next to it.
-if you want to go into the pharma industry, there are links to Astra zeneca, not GSK, Andrew Witty has not set up any links to the pharmacy school, but to the chemistry department, not unnecessary a bad thing, the university does have a reputation being the top pharmacy school in the country, especially for industry based jobs.

now i enjoyed my 4 years here, course is pretty hardcore, but it's enjoyable with really prestigious lecturers, and led to get a really good pre reg so.

Hi

I think it is fantastic we have so many applicants to pharmacy and that the quality of our potential students is clearly high. I have read this thread with interest, I am Dean of Pharmacy at Durham and whilst I agree with most of what has been said I don't necessarily concur with some of the information about Durham or indeed other new schools.

As well as my role at Durham I am also Team Leader of the Accreditation Team at GPhC and thus the perceived inexperience in running the MPharm discussed here is really a misnomer. Much of our team was responsible for designing the first fully integrated MPharm in the UK in 2010 and we have staff amongst our ranks with huge experience. We also have staff who are members of the Board of Assessors and therefore know the preregistration system very well, including the examination.

I am not suggesting anyone is wrong within your discussions as their opinions are as valid as anyone's but if you have questions about Durham, please ask I'm happy to answer. We are the third ranked university in the UK behind Oxford and Cambridge and we will ensure our pharmacy course is the best it can be nationally and internationally. As well as this kind of success we also want to be known for looking after our students and potential students.

I would also suggest you ignore advice that having a professional degree means where you got in from doesn't matter. It absolutely does and will only become more important as time progresses. Look at the LLB, from the wrong University it's worthless. Durham is in the top 15 universities in the world for student employability, this is absolutely worth something.

Thanks

Andy Husband

Hello,


It is Durham's overall ranking which caused me some confusion about whether to choose between Nottingham and Durham.
However what has persuaded me towards Nottingham, which I have found lacks in Durham, is the emphasis on industry and opportunities abroad.
E-mailing admission staff at Durham, I have found there seems to be close ties to community and hospital pharmacy, but very little (practically no) information or direction about industry.

For me this sounds ideal, because as it stands, I really want to go into industry.
It seems a shame about the lack of links between GlaxoSmithKline and Nottingham, however that doesn't discourage me as I'd still apply for one of the pre reg places.
Have you spent any of your years abroad?

hi,

well the course prepares you for industry in terms of getting into industry, as 4 out of the 11 pre regs in industry offered in the uk went to students at Nottingham this year including MSD and GSK. however, don't decide upon a university course just because it's the "top school" in rankings, like the dean of Durham mentioned, they have a great reputation, with good staff, it'll only be a question of time before they are recognized as a top pharmacy school. UEA took 3 years to become the second best school in the country with good staff etc.

in terms of access into industry, it wasn't facilitated at university of Nottingham officially in terms of structured programs, i'm personally in the process of setting up a industry pharmacy network at school, so again it doesn't really matter where you are studying, but more of your passion of wanting to join the pharma industry and going out your way to network with professionals and finding work experience.

i haven't spent any time abroad personally, but a few of my friends have. there are 2 opportunities currently, you can either spend half or full time of your second year in Malaysia or spend your final year project at a variety of locations which include Australia etc, i believe with the Shanghai campus opening there will be opportunities to spend time there in the future.

I'm not trying to sell Nottingham as a course, but just sharing my experience as a student there. i think there's a new course structure for the first years so your experience may differ, but either way it's been a great experience